Front Range
SnowpackIan Fowler · Mar 3, 2024 · Front Range
Weather
In the morning it was calm with light snow. Probably around 10am the wind picked up and it was upsloping from the east with strong gusts. For an extended period it was S2. When we left a little afternoon the winds had switched to the west and were starting to get nuclear.
Snowpack
We observed about 4 inches of new snow below treeline, this increased to 6-8 inches near treeline. There was no slab formation near or below treeline and kicking off small cornices and jumping on test slopes produced just loose dry avalanches. On southerly aspects there was a crust beneath the new snow and it was not bonded well. Above treeline on the Dragons Tail Apron (SE aspect) the snow was thickening but cracking was localized close to skis.